Dragster
by High Rhulain
Summary: The need for speed: they feel it even in the future. The Prince of an IMPERIAL house wants a new slave to win him the Tripod stakes, and Sakura Haruno, queen of the strip, is the perfect person for the job... SasuSaku
1. Prologue

Drag racing. That sport of those in whom speed runs like a drug through their veins. The strip: possibly the most dangerous place on the planet. This planet, that is.

The year is 5010. The Lands are now ruled by IMPERIAL pure-blood families, families whose heritage is pure. The rest of society, the commoners, half-bloods, freemen, and slaves, mingle in the great cities of the world, eating, drinking, living, and racing.

The types of courses and vehicles differ from province to province, but they're all essentially the same: satiate our thirst for speed. Speed is physics and chemistry at the same time: some people are born with it in their blood. The perfect dragster, the perfect stripster, as they are called in this world of the future.

Slavery has been reborn, and human souls are now traded for gold. Metal runs thicker than blood in this new society. The IMPERIAL houses have passed laws that dictate who can and cannot be sold, and it is by these laws that a thousand souls die without ever tasting a breath of freedom.

But some slaves are luckier than others. They are chosen by the IMPERIALS for a specific task, a secret task. The IMPERIALS themselves would die of shame if their secret was ever discovered. Behold, the realm of drag racing, that ever-so-fickle drug…


	2. Sold!

"Ah, my Lord!" the sniveling dealer whined. "You're just in time, I got a new shipment yesterday-"

"Spare me the drivel, Akihiro," a cold voice warned. "The laws on the trading of human souls haven't changed for centuries, and I'm not about to lift a ban and allow you to import pure-bloods."

"But it would make things so much smoother, yes?" Akihiro persisted. "If blood checks, they were not run, and border patrols lurked not around every corner-"

"Then the sons and daughters of IMPERIAL families might end up on the slave market," the cold voice continued. "The bloodlines of the ages would deteriorate, and the lines between nobility, freeman, and slave would be breached. Enough talk. What do you have for me this time?"

"They…they brought a lass from the Cloud, they did," Akihiro stuttered, clearly trying to regain his footing. "A beauty, she, and trained in hypno-seduction, they say…"

"Itachi's the womanizer, not me," the cold voice laughed. "I don't pick up his cargo, his business is his business."

The voices were getting closer. The girl wearing rags hunkered down behind the bars of her slimy, cold stone cell and shivered. But the coldness did not dim the hatred burning fiercely in her brilliant green eyes. Slavery was a degradation, and this girl would never forgive those who had sold her into slavery.

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"_She's good-looking, too, might catch an IMPERIAL eye."_

"_She's definitely talented, and would fetch much on the market," the other admitted._

"_Sell her. I'll buy her off your hands, put her on the market. You won't regret your decision."_

_-------------------------------------------------_

"_NO! NII-SAMA, NO!"_

_A stinging slap across the face._

"_Quiet, girl! You are no longer of value to me."_

"_No, I won't lose again, I'll do anything you say, I'll-"_

"_I said QUIET, wench!"_

_The clink of gold as it exchanged hands, claiming a human soul._

"_NII-SAMAAAAA!"_

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"Here she is," Akihiro wheedled. "The pride and joy of-"

"As I said, Akihiro, spare me the drivel," the young man replied drily. He looked through the bars at the girl huddled in the corner, shivering from cold.

"She doesn't look much," he pointed out.

"True, but they say in the city she's from that she's never lost once on the strip."

"Then why was she sold?" the young man demanded.

"Well…legends aren't TRUTH, my lord…"

"I lost."

The young man and the dealer turned from each other and looked at the slave girl huddled in the corner. A chain was bound around her neck, and her hands were cuffed together. She spat her words bitterly.

"I lost, and they sold me. That's all there is to it, _my lord._" She spat his title with contempt.

"You – how DARE you address his Lordship directly!" Akihiro squeaked, getting larger with indignation. He drew the coiled whip from his belt and lashed through the bars at the girl. "I'll teach you a LESSON, you slimy piece of no-good filth-"

"Enough." The young man laid a hand over the lashing whip. The girl, who had ducked her head under her arms to protect her face, looked up at her savior again. She sneered.

"Trying to get on my good side, _my lord?_ I told you, I lost. Go find some other piece of trash to run the strip for you."

The young man caressed one of the bars with his hand. "I don't run the strip. I run a different kind of race entirely. Ever heard of the Tri-pod Stakes?"

"I don't care," the girl said haughtily. "I'm only good for the strip, and losing at that."

The young man's black eyes transfixed her. "We'll see about that. You've got the body of a racer, I'll give you that. How much for her?" He turned to Akihiro.

"Um, well, considering the circumstances and your lordship's _vast_ purse, you mustn't expect-"

"I'll give you 1000," the young man said carelessly, pulling a huge billfold from a purse under his robes. The dealer's eyes popped.

"My lord…"

"Get her ready and send her to my palace," the young man directed, shooting a look back at the girl. "We'll see if she's made for the strip or not."


	3. The IMPERIAL Stakes

The huge golden gates to the palace creaked open. The row of ragged, dirty slaves stared in sluggish, primitive awe at the huge white marble of the palace. Only one was not interested.

The slavemaster had a huge list he ran down, checking off slaves as they reached his desk.

"Three to clean floors in the prince's aviary, yes…three to scrub pots in the galley…and one…my goodness, he's bought another one." The slavemaster looked up at the girl, who stared boldly back at him.

"You wouldn't be the first, missie. He's bought a lot of them, you know. Take her to the stables, the master's almost always there. Next! Fifteen to scrub floors on the second floor?"

A hefty man wearing tan robes grabbed the girl's lead. She still wore the iron band around her neck, but a chain had been attached to a ring set in the band. It was like a leash and collar, but only for a human.

The man in tan robes lead the girl through the maze of the palace, finally stopping outside an outbuilding set a little ways away from the main palace. Huge sliding wooden doors hid what was inside the building. The man led her through a small side door and into the cool, dark caverns of the hangar-like structure. The girl had a feeling that they were in a huge, open space, but after the brightness from outside, her eyes hadn't yet adjusted to the darkness. The man leading her pushed open another door and emerged into a hallway lined with doors.

"The new stripster is here, your Highness!" he called. The girl turned around and started in shock. Standing in front of her was none other than the man who had bought her!

"Hnn, I'll test her later," he said carelessly. "Put her in the new cell."

"Yes, your Highness."

The girl turned back as she was dragged away. The young man who had bought her was tall, with raven-black hair that fell gracefully into his eyes and stuck up in the back. He wore a white, robe-like shirt over black traditional bottoms (SHIPPUDEN!).

Suddenly the chain of her lead was taken off. The girl was thrust roughly into a cell. The tan-robed man slammed the door and stalked away.

"Hey, are you new?" a voice came out of the darkness. The girl hung back, wary of what might be in the cell with her.

"Yeah," she muttered. "Who are you?"

A friendly face emerged from the darkness, blond with six whisker-like scars on each cheek. "You must be the new dragster. I'm Naruto, your monkey."

"What?" the girl replied.

"Look, what's your name?"

"Sakura," she said reluctantly.

"Look, Sakura, we're a team now, whether we like it or not. His _Lordship_" -he spat the name with as much contempt as Sakura did- "Sasuke Uchiha bought us both intending to use us as a dragster team."

"Wait – you're my monkey?" Sakura asked. Naruto sighed.

"Yeah, I know everything there is to know about speedsters, pods, anything you care to race. I can strip them down and put them back together in no time at all. I can even tell which district is likely to use which type of racer. You look like a downtown homie to me, so you're probably used to racing stripsters, am I right?"

He smiled at the look of incredulity on Sakura's face.

"How did you guess?"

"It's my job. It's my only job, now – I had to tell Lord Sasuke which district was likely to produce him a good racer." Naruto sniffed. "He's been through several racers already, and none of them have met his expectations."

"Wait – why does this Sasuke guy want ME?" Sakura asked. Naruto stared at her.

"You mean to say you don't know why you were chosen?"

"I thought he bought me," Sakura said drily. Naruto smirked.

"Nope, Sakura. You were chosen by the Prince himself to be the master of the racecourse."

"What?"

"Prince Sasuke's not the heir to the throne, so he really has nothing to do all day," Naruto said in a bored tone. "So he puts together racing teams and lets them loose on the course. You know about the different types of courses, right?"

"Of course," Sakura said, ticking them off on her fingers. "There's the drag strip, where we stripsters race. That's just a five-mile straight stretch, like an Olympic sprinting distance. Then there's indy racing, where you go a set number of laps around an oval track. And there's pod racing, which is more like a living obstacle course. And that's it, right?"

Naruto shook his head. "Nope. There's one more. The IMPERIALs have to have their fun, too, so there's a "noble" type of racing: the Tri-pod Stakes."

The name rang a bell in Sakura's mind. "Come again?"

"The Tri-pod Stakes." Naruto looked over at her. "I know, I'd never heard of them either until the Prince bought me. Tri-pod stake racing is something that only IMPERIALs can do, and they spend their days putting together the perfect teams for it. Well, actually, it's not really even legal, what they do. The whole Tri-pod Stakes atmosphere is an underground racing movement, that's why no one else knows about it."

"So Prince Sasuke is involved in an illegal underground IMPERIAL racing society?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

"That's about it," Naruto said with a cunning grin. "He's not the only one from an IMPERIAL house, either. Let's see…the Subakus are involved, the Hyuugas…"

He laughed to see Sakura's face go white. "You'd never think our royal, noble, _pure-blood_ houses were into drag racing, too, would you? Tri-pod Stake racing is the most dangerous out of any of the racing types that I've encountered so far. There are three legs: the water stretch, the land stretch, and the air stretch. There are no rules, except win. You have to design your own pod that will fly, motor, and drive all at once. It's the most difficult, dangerous, and FAST race there is."

"Heh, then you haven't met the stripsters," Sakura smirked, thumbing her chest. "I LIVE for speed."

Naruto smiled grimly. "Good. Then you'll fit right in to this type of racing. There aren't a lot of girls in the Tri-pod Stakes."

"So Sasuke thinks I'll be the person to win him the Tri-pod Stakes?" Sakura asked. Naruto nodded.

"Looks like it. He's making me design him a pod that will make it through all three legs, that's what's happening in the large hangar you went through. Trust me, if you pass Sasuke's preliminary test, you will be practicing a LOT in my baby."

"Wait – Sasuke has a preliminary test?" Sakura asked. Naruto nodded.

"He's put several other racers through it already. A dragster and a few indys. None made it alive. You're the first stripster he's tried. Maybe it's just cause you guys are so sharp around the edges," Naruto laughed.

"Hey, most of the strip racers live in the downtown area, where all the old factory belts are," Sakura snarled. "Those old belt strips are five miles long, you know. Perfect racecourses. Combine that with a nitro car and a good hand at the wheel and you're set."

"You don't have to tell ME that," Naruto sniffed. "I'm a monkey, remember? I used to strip down the cars on the street looking for parts to soup up my own nitro baby. The Ninetails never lost a race," he recalled fondly. Sakura stared.

"YOU designed the Ninetails?! The car with nine nitro blasters?"

"Yeah, that was my work," Naruto said. "Is she still on the strip?"

"The idiots who ran her stuck a drunk behind the wheel," Sakura recalled. "He plunged off the belt."

"She was a good car," Naruto said sadly. "I'll miss her."

There was a rattle of keys at the door, then the cell door opened to reveal a tall man with long, silver hair.

"Are you Sakura Haruno?" he asked, pointing at Sakura. She nodded.

"Come with me."

"Good luck!" Naruto called. "Don't go too hard on her, Kakashi!"

Kakashi grinned.

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**Yeah, I'm trying my hand at a sci-fi-ish SasuSaku. Inspired by a lack of sleep, Star Wars Episode I, FFVII OST, and my own lame ideas. :P lol read and review! This one will probably go very slow, as it's just a momentary inspiration...**


	4. The Prince's Preliminary Test

"Ah, my new racer is here," the Prince said as Kakashi came, bringing Sakura with him. "What's your name, flower?"

Sakura shot him a death glare. "Sakura Haruno, _Highness,_" she spat.

"Sakura. What a pretty name. Well, _Sakura,_" Sasuke said, laying equal contemptuous emphasis on her name, "do you now why you're here? Did Naruto explain it all?"

"I'm supposed to race for you in the Tri-pod Stakes," Sakura snarled.

"Correct, if you ever get that far. Unfortunately, there are a lot of preliminary races between the IMPERIAL houses, and of course, I can only field the best," Sasuke said, taking a step closer. "So you, my cherry blossom, will be taking a little test of mine that I've designed for aspiring racers such as you." His fingers reached out to stroke her chin. Sakura jerked her head away from him.

"Ah, a little spirited, eh? Well so's this dragster." Sasuke said, patting the chrome hull beside him. "This here is _Photon Spirit_, one of the most compact little pods there is." He smiled amusedly at the look on Sakura's face. "Well, go on, hop in."

Sakura swung herself into the cockpit with relative ease. The vehicle was shaped like the body of an airplane, but without wings. The whole thing hovered off the ground, like all pods did, using anti-magnetic technology. The seat of the driver was like a bucket seat, with straps to hold them in. The wheel was large, and the dashboard covered with buttons and flashing lights.

"What am I supposed to do?" Sakura asked. Kakashi handed her a helmet that looked like a motorcycle helmet, complete with reflective visor.

"Simple, flower. I've got a five-mile stretch that I want you to ride," Sasuke said. Sakura donned the helmet, but flipped the visor up. She stroked the wheel, relieved to be back where she belonged. Then she noticed something.

"This pod's got no brake!"

Sasuke smirked. "You won't need one."

Sakura's eyebrow flickered. She wouldn't need a brake, eh? We'll see about that, Mr. High and Mighty.

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The Prince's five-mile stretch was indeed just that, a flat strip of sandy ground surrounded by mesas and craggy red rocks. It looked dangerous: if Sakura lost control, she would crash, and there was no chance of survival in this place.

"We'll be down at the other end, cherry blossom," Sasuke said, stroking the hull of the _Photon Spirit_ once again. "You can take your time or speed to us, I don't care."

Sakura's eyes narrowed.

"Enjoy the ride!" Sasuke called. He and Kakashi stepped into a steel cylinder and Kakashi shut the door. For a moment, Sakura could still see the smirk imprinted on his face, then there was a flash of light and he and Kakashi had teleported to the far end of the course.

Sakura's hands fondled the wheel as she stared down the course. Was there a trick to the test? The strip looked relatively safe…the only problem was not having a brake. Was that Sasuke's trick test? To see if she could stop without a brake pedal?

Sakura flipped the visor down. It was time to start. She gunned the engine, knowing that without a brake, she couldn't rev the engine. The _Photon Spirit _was like a dream: it leapt at her command. Sakura flipped down her visor and smiled. Time to rumble. She pressed the gas and opened the throttle without strapping herself in.

Five miles seems like a long way to go, but in a pod or stripster, the ground just flew away. Sakura had eased her way up to a good 200 MPH, but that was only cruising speed for a pod like this one. In this machine, she could probably break the sound barrier, but that was only advisable in a place where there were no obstacles in her path, like a salt flat. Not here, in this rocky, sandy terrain.

The throttle seemed to throb in Sakura's hand, begging her to thrust it forward and to hell with the consequences. Sakura ground her teeth as she fought the drug that was speed, the sheer joy of acceleration. Faster than she expected, the finish drew near. She could see two people standing at the side of the course, watching as the silver pod drew nearer and nearer. An idea suddenly sprung into Sakura's mind. She stopped pressing on the gas and eased off the throttle, causing the pod to loose momentum. About half a mile ahead of where the finish line lay, there was a huge red rocky cliff obscuring the horizon. If she kept going, she would smash into that cliff. Sasuke had only given her half a mile to stop, and she could do so in that space. However, Sakura had a different plan.

As soon as she crossed the finish line and the pod began to slow down, Sakura slammed the gas down as hard as it would go. Before the engine could respond, however, Sakura had vaulted over the side and rolled safely out of the way. Sasuke and Kakashi could only watch as the precious _Photon Spirit_ shot away towards the cliff and exploded in a ball of rolling orange flame. Sakura strode up to them, smirking.

"That's what I think of your pod without a brake," she said calmly, tucking her helmet under one arm. Sasuke was grinding his teeth inwardly, but he held his temper.

"You just added the cost of that pod to your freedom price, cherry blossom," he said smoothly. It was Sakura's turn to flush dark. That pod had probably cost 2000…and she had been bought for 1000. She would have to raise 3000 if she ever wanted to be free. Darn this stuck-up prince and his pod racing.

"You did well handling that thing," Kakashi pointed out. "I'd say she's the one you've been looking for, my Lord."

Sasuke looked thoughtful. "Yes, she might be the one. Lock her up again, Kakashi, I have some planning to do."

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**Hi, it's Rhulain. I'm sorry, but I've got to take about a week's break from all my writing. Life goes on, ya know. But I will return and keep going with all my fics!**


	5. ITPR

"How'd it go?" Naruto asked as Sakura was roughly shoved back into her cell. "You made it alive!"

"I have a feeling I'm going to be Sasuke's racer," Sakura said dully. "Looks like you're my monkey." She sat down on the grimy cell floor. "Tell me more about this Tri-pod Stakes race again."

"Well, the actual Tri-pod Stakes are held only once a year," Naruto explained. "And there are only three competitors in the final race. The rest of the year, the IMPERIALS are each building their racing teams, hoping to get a shot at winning. It's kind of like a war between them, an underground, illegal war. But it's definitely better to fight in a race than to fight with guns and lasers, don't you think?"

"Skip the political jargon and tell me how the race works, Naruto," Sakura said, bored.

"Well, like I said, there are three stretches," Naruto continued. "The air leg, the water leg, and the land leg. There are no rules, except for winning. The IMPERIALS are responsible to design their own pods that will move on water, land, and air. That's why Sasuke bought me," he said proudly. "Anyway, you start out on a small strip of land which falls off into a huge lake. After you finish the water part, you have to convert the pod and come out onto the beach for the land segment. The land segment's the longest," Naruto recalled, "it goes through all kinds of terrain for about…twenty miles?"

Twenty MILES!?! That was the equivalent of four strip races!

"When does the air leg pick up?" Sakura asked.

"The track eventually just falls off a cliff, and that's when you have to convert to air," Naruto said. "The land track basically brings you in a huge oval, and the air track brings you back to the starting line, which is also the finish line."

"So it's basically a huge indy track with three types of course?" Sakura asked. Naruto nodded.

"It's challenging: the pilots have to be racers, fliers, and boaters all at the same time. It's a neck-and-neck race, too, so you have to know when to cut people off and when to accelerate…it's the most challenging racecourse ever designed by mankind," Naruto said firmly.

"Have you raced it?" Sakura asked. Naruto smiled sadly.

"I've been a monkey for the Prince for three years. I've seen two pilots come and go. One of them died in a crash before the Tri-pod Stakes, the other was killed in the middle of the Tri-pod Stakes. Prince Gaara of the Sand won that race, and Prince Sasuke has never forgiven him for it, since."

"How many IMPERIAL houses compete in this race?!" Sakura asked in amazement.

"Well, there's Prince Neji Hyuuga of the Secondary Hyuuga House, and Princess Hinata Hyuuga of the Prime Hyuuga House," Naruto counted on his fingers. "They've both got teams. Princess Ino Yamanaka's got a genius for a pilot in her squad. Prince Gaara no Subaku of the House of Sand has a great team that's won for two years in a row now," Naruto said. "And then, of course, there's our own Prince Sasuke, who's determined to win this year. Prince Kabuto Yakushi has tried to cheat almost every year, but sooner or later he's caught. And then, of course, there's Princess Tsudane, who's got some rather odd characters on her team," Naruto said, grimacing. "Kakashi was once on a team for another member of Sasuke's household. But Rin, the monkey, and Obito, the owner, were both killed, so Kakashi's the pilot trainer."

"So he'll be working with me on how to Tri-pod race?" Sakura asked. Naruto held up a hand.

"First, it's not called Tri-pod racing. It's ITPR, standing for **I**MPERIAL **T**ri-course **P**od **R**acing. We use ITPR simply as a precaution, to make sure no one discovers our underground dragging. Second, you're racing a 'charger', not a 'pod', again, for the same precautionary reasons. And third, you're a 'pilot' now, not a 'stripster'. If you wanna run the tri-course, you gotta be wise to the terms." He winked at Sakura. She nodded, trying to take in all this new terminology.

"So how do I get to the Tri-pod Stakes?" Sakura asked. "They're like the finals, right?"

"Right," Naruto said, laying a finger to his nose. "To get to the Tri-pod Stakes, you have to win a bunch of other races against other IMPERIAL houses. Each IMPERIAL house has at least two teams. Two IMPERIALS race all their teams against each other, and the two teams with the best scores progress to the next round. Make sense?"

"Yeah, so eventually, if you're lucky, you run down to one team only," Sakura realized. "But who are Sasuke's other teams?"

"Let's see," Naruto said. "Itachi made two teams before losing interest, so Sasuke's got two teams besides us: Kisame Hoshigaki and Raiga Kurosuki, and Hidan and Kakazu. Raiga and Kakazu are loudmouths for monkeys, but you'd better watch out for Kisame and Hidan. They're the other pilots, and they've got tempers." Naruto shivered.

"Well, if they think a girl will be weaker than they are, they're in for a rough surprise," Sakura said, making a fist and pounding it on her other palm. "I'm from the downtown district, and I'm a stripster. There's nothing I'm afraid of, except losing, and that was never an option."

Naruto smiled. "That's the attitude of a true pilot. You're off to a good start, Sakura-chan!"

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**YOSH! I'm back and writing with a vengeance! I reread **_**Dune**_** (it's a good companion on long trips), and it's given me a TON of ideas. I recommend it to sci-fi lovers, it's really good. Hate the movie, love the book. Anyway, back to my point: **_**Dragster**_** is picking up speed and rolling away!**

**Oh, yeah – I found out that 'speed' can also refer to meth. So 'need for speed' can also be translated as 'addicted to meth'. But we'll skip that in this fic. :) Love ya all and review!**

**Rhulain**


	6. Training

"Sakura?" Kakashi was at the door. Sakura climbed off her window seat and walked over to the door, pulling it open a crack.

"Yes, Kakashi?"

"His Highness would like to see you."

Sakura sighed. "I'll be ready in a minute."

Things had really changed for Sakura ever since she and Naruto had discussed her path to the Stakes. Sakura had been given her own suite, open and airy, with meals twice a day and clean clothes to wear. Her hair, which had always been lanky, unkempt, and ragged at the edges, now came softly to light after several cleanings. It was pink: given, an unnatural shade, but there were many strange colors in this world, Sakura thought. Why, some people even have ORANGE hair!

Sakura shed the white robe she had been wearing all day and donned her ITPR racing gear: black boots, black pants, and a black, form-fitting long-sleeve shirt with a red and white fan printed on the back. Her helmet, black as well, bore the Uchiha crest symbol on both sides. Black gloves completed the ensemble. The material was a strange one: it kept her light and cool, even though she wore black in the oppressive desert sun.

Sakura emerged from her room, helmet tucked under one arm. It was proper protocol to appear this way all the time. Across the hall, Naruto came out from his rooms, wearing the same outfit, only with a black Uchiha headband around his forehead and no helmet.

_It's a prison, even though it doesn't look like one,_ Sakura thought as Kakashi locked the doors. _These doors lock from the outside, not the inside. We're trapped here as much as we were in the cell._

"Follow me, Sakura, Naruto," Kakashi ordered. The pilot and the monkey followed him.

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"Ah, my third team has arrived," Sasuke said in his careless tone as Kakashi ushered Sakura and Naruto in. "The flower and the fox. Greetings."

Sakura and Naruto bowed low from the waist, knowing they might lose their heads if they didn't. Sakura grimaced at the ground, waiting for Sasuke's permission to straighten up. She hated protocol, hated this place, hated being owned…but that was the life of a slave.

The Prince crossed the floor and laid a hand on Sakura's bowed head. "I trust you're ready to race?"

"When my Lord commands," Sakura mumbled, trying her best not to spit at Sasuke's feet. His hand caressed one of her pink locks, then he stepped back.

"You may rise."

Sakura and Naruto straightened up, feeling the blood rush back to their bodies from their heads.

"I've decided it's time for you all to train for the Stakes," the Prince declared, stepping back so he could see all three of his teams. "Kakashi will be taking you, of course."

"Pardon me, master, but is this GIRL the new pilot?" a blue-skinned man sneered. Sakura looked over at him and growled silently. Sasuke noticed.

"Be careful, Kisame," he laughed lightly. "The little pink-haired cherry blossom's from the stripster zone. She might strip YOU down if you're not careful."

Sakura made a face at Kisame, who stared coolly back.

"When do you want to leave, Kakashi?" Sasuke asked, ignoring the rising tension between his teams.

"Now would be a good time, your Lordship," Kakashi replied. Sasuke nodded.

"Good. Then go. I'll expect you back in three months."

_Three MONTHS?!!? What kind of training is this?_ Sakura wondered.

"We'll come back ready for the first match," Kakashi promised. Sasuke's eyes glinted red.

"Good. See that you do. Because I might have to punish you otherwise, Kakashi."

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"So what is this?" Sakura asked. Naruto pulled a coversheet off of his work.

"For the next three months, you're going to learn how to run a ITPR course," he said grimly. "And you're going to do it in this."

Sakura had to stifle a laugh. "A flight simulator?"

"Wrong. A charger simulator." Naruto opened the door, signaling for her to get in. Sakura donned the helmet he handed her and got into the simulator. The door closed, leaving her in abject darkness. There was a flicker on the screen in front of her, and Naruto's face came into view.

"I designed this thing myself, Sakura. You can train for a while in this and not risk dying too soon. We'll harden you to the possible quirks of an ITPR course soon enough."

Naruto's face vanished onscreen, to be replaced by a map. There was a large patch of blue on the right side of the map. It looked like a coastal beach.

"This is the simplest course that I've programmed into this simulator," Naruto's voice came over the helmet speakers. Sakura jumped, then remembered that all monkeys had wireless mike connections installed in their pilot's helmets.

"It's basically just a beach course. You follow the markers on the water out to the turning point, then come around the bend and continue the oval course on land," Naruto said. A blinking red dot on the map showed Sakura the path she was supposed to take.

"Since this is your first time ever in a charger, even if it is a simulated one, I'll take it easy on you," Naruto said. "There won't be any freak waves, or strange animals, or bizarre happenings, or other riders. Just a clean and simple course. You've got to finish it as fast as you can. Any questions?"

"Nope."

"Then I'll give you your signal."

Sakura examined the controls Naruto had installed in this charger. It was pretty standard, though there were a few knobs and thrusts that Sakura had never seen before. There was also a third pedal, something she had never heard of, either. Holding down the brake, Sakura revved her engine loudly. The flags went up from a simulated Naruto onscreen: a red, a yellow…and then the fatal green. With a roar, Sakura released her brake and the charger surged forward.

"OK, you're almost at the end of the speed strip," Naruto's voice came over the headset. "Now see the thrust by your left hand? It's only got three gears. Push that forward as soon as your charger hits the water."

Sakura saw the sand flying away, her charger wasn't slowing down. Applying a bit of the brake, she entered the water and thrust the stick forward. Immediately she felt a rumbling at her feet, and, on the simulation screen, the entire front of her pod suddenly collapsed in on itself!

"It's OK," Naruto said, hearing Sakura's sharp intake of breath. "It's just reconverting itself. And next time, don't brake before switching. You lost valuable seconds."

Sakura suddenly found that she was sitting on something that didn't look too much unlike a souped-up jetski. She grinned under her helmet.

"This is the kind of racing I like!" She opened the throttle wide, and the jetski flew off, leaving a huge wake behind it. Sakura's body shook violently, and she felt the hovercraft skimming the simulated waves. Almost before she knew it, she could see the red pin up ahead that was her signal to turn.

Like a pro, Sakura spun the wheel, causing the charger to powerslide around the mark. However, the bank was so wide that the charger completed the turn almost 500 feet away from the mark.

"Not good!" she heard Naruto say. "Your turn's gotta be tighter than a cheapskate's purse."

To make up for the time she knew she'd lost on the turn, Sakura opened the throttle as wide as it would go, sending the little craft flying.

"NO!" she heard Naruto yell. "The water phase isn't built to withstand such speed! You've got to slow down!"

Sakura eased off on the throttle and applied a bit of brake.

"That's better," Naruto said. "Now when you hit the beach, pull the shift stick back to the center gear."

Sakura was a bit too late: she felt the charger scraping the shallows with jolts and jerks before she threw the throttle. Naruto hissed.

"That would have made you lose the race, if it was a real one. Careful, Sakura-chan!"

"I'm TRYING!" Sakura churned through gritted teeth, opening the throttle wide as she came off the beach and onto the flat salt plains Naruto's program had placed as the land stretch. This was it: she would show him that she was a real racer at heart. Laughing inside, Sakura flicked a few switches and kicked the throttle wide.

With a roar and a sonic boom, the charger passed the sound barrier!

Naruto was yelling something in her ear, but Sakura disregarded his words, treating them like white noise. This was her terrain, she was an unsurpassed stripster. Her eyes watched as the simulation terrain melted away before her, revealing the red marker on the horizon that was her turning point. Slowing up, Sakura banked sharply, feeling the side of the charger scrape the salty flats. It was too wide again – she missed her mark. Cursing, Sakura opened the throttle again and took off on the next part of the oval.

Suddenly, there wasn't any ground for her wheels to turn on! 

"YOU FOOL!" she heard Naruto scream as the screen plummeted. There was a loud crashing sound, and the screen went black. Then red letters blared off the simulation screen at Sakura's eyes:

**FAILED**

"Why didn't you listen to me?!" Naruto growled into the headset. "You just died! Your turns were too wide, and your time was pathetic! Even if you'd finished, your time would have been fifty minutes!"

"So what?" Sakura retorted, trying to stop her limbs from shaking at the sudden drop-away of the ground. "That's pretty good for a eighty-mile course, isn't it?"

"The average time is twenty," Naruto said quietly. Sakura gagged.

"TWENTY minutes for an EIGHTY mile course?!?!"

"Yes," Naruto confirmed, "and that's why I'm keeping you in this simulator for nine hours a day. We're going to cut your time and teach you how the course works, one bit at a time!"


	7. The First IMPERIAL Race

It had been three months. Sakura's hands had grown callused and worn, her fingers used to the feel of the charger's wheel and throttle. Naruto had been master and coach through it all, leading her up to the point where she was able to get out of the flight simulator and use a real charger. Under Kakashi's watchful eye and Naruto's practiced hand, Sakura had blossomed into a hardened ITPR slave driver.

Right now, Sakura was one of the secret ITPR racecourses that the Imperial Houses used for their exploits. She was neither in a charger nor indeed, anywhere near the track. No, Sakura was in the box reserved for the Uchiha House, sitting alongside Sasuke's other teams, watching the first match of the ITPR season: Hyuuga House Minor vs. Yamanaka House. There were about seven teams on the ground, each with a pilot and monkey standing next to a charger, waiting for their masters to signal for the race to start.

Naruto handed Sakura a pair of binoculars and pointed to two boxes across the track from them. "Look, that's where the Houses in today's race will sit. See if you can see them."

Sakura twiddled the knob, trying to focus in on the boxes. Indeed, there was already someone in the box with the 'Yamanaka' kanji painted on the front: a girl with long blonde hair and flowers decorating her low-cut dress.

"That's Princess Ino?" Sakura asked. Naruto nodded.

"Prince Neji should be showing up any minute," he said, pointing at the other box. Sakura focused on it. Sure enough, a long-haired, pale young man emerged into the box. He was uniquely handsome, though there was something strange about him that Sakura couldn't pinpoint. Then she hit on it.

"He's got no pupils!" she gasped. Naruto shrugged.

"All the Hyuuga are that way, it's a genetic trait they share."

"But…but…"

"Come on, Sakura, this isn't the Dark Ages," Naruto pointed out. "We have scientifically and genetically advanced, and with that comes things like odd and sometimes dangerous genetic traits. Hey, did you know that our Prince's eyes will turn red when he's angry or belligerent?"

"N-no…"

"That's one of the genetic traits of the Uchiha," Naruto said matter-of-factly. "There's a whole bunch more out there. I'm sure your hair" –he eyed Sakura's pink locks- "is the result of genetic variation."

"Don't dis the hair!" Sakura snapped, feeling pettish now. Suddenly the whole stadium went quiet. Down below, at the starting line, the pilots and monkeys were lined up besides their respective chargers, neat in rank and file. As one man, all six of the teams raised an arm and saluted the Hyuuga box, crying:

"Ave IMPERIALES, morituri te salutant! Ave Genus Hyuuga Minor!"

Prince Neji inclined his head slightly, as if to accept the hails of the teams. Sakura noticed the look of near reverence on one of the monkeys: she had brown hair that was up in two buns, and her warm eyes shone as they gazed at her prince.

The teams then turned to face the Yamanaka box, shouting their cry again.

"Ave Genus Yamanaka!"

"What are they saying?" Sakura murmured to Naruto. He shrugged.

"I was never any good with languages."

"It's a dead language." Both Sakura and Naruto swiveled in their seats to see Prince Sasuke seated higher up in the box. The other two Uchiha teams turned to face him as well. He gazed down at the track as he explained.

"The pilots are acknowledging their subservience to the IMPERIAL houses. Roughly translated, the phrase means: 'Hail, IMPERIALs! We who are about to die, salute you!' Today, it's Hyuuga Minor vs. Yamanaka, so they honor each house by name before the race."

The sudden revving of engines caused everyone in the Uchiha box to return to the racecourse. Sakura's mind churned.

_How awful, having to chant that every time you race, _she thought. _It's so MENIAL, so crushing. And is the death rate for an ITPR race REALLY that high? High enough that they chant that they will die?_

It was Sasuke, once again, who provided her with the answer. "Gladiators used to chant that before they fought in arenas," he said quietly. "It was the sport of the emperors, a long time ago, just as ITPR is today."

_So that's it, _Sakura thought bitterly. _It's just to humilate us._

Down below, the signals were being given. Red light…yellow light…GO!

With a roar, the chargers were gone! Overhead, a small jet plane soared by, tracking the pods' progress. The jet had cameras on it, and every charger had a lightweight camera installed on the nose. A huge projector was showing the IMPERIALS and their teams the progress of the race between Yamanaka House and Hyuuga House Minor.

Trouble started almost immediately: one of the tailfins on one of Princess Ino's crafts began to waver, shivering violently in the slipstream. The pilot hadn't seemed to notice, or, if he had, he was ignoring it. The tailfin rattled, twisting back and forth…

The other chargers swerved to avoid the chunk of twisted metal that had just flown off of the Yamanaka pod. It spun out of control, leaving red sand clouds rising over the ground before a huge orange explosion filled the screens. One team down, five more in the race.

The crowd, seemingly unfazed by the recent death and explosion of a pilot and charger, returned its attention to the pods in front. Sakura, however, was shocked.

"Don't they care that someone just died out there!?" she exploded angrily. Naruto laid a hand on her arm.

"Sakura, these are the IMPERIAL houses. It's just a slave, they just buy another one. No one cares about their life in these races, the only point is to win."

"Right," Sakura gritted through her teeth, "right."

Blinded by her anger, Sakura didn't even notice the rest of the race. Her core was so burning with fury over the lost pilot that she didn't even notice who won. Hyuuga Minor took first place, while one of Princess Ino's teams took second. Ino had also taken third, while Prince Neji took fourth. The four teams who had won celebrated on the racecourse, while the team who had lost packed up in silence. Sakura noticed one monkey, a little girl, craning her neck to see if her pilot was coming down the course. Late, perhaps, but finishing nonetheless. Someone whispered to her, and the little monkey who had lost her pilot burst into tears, fleeing the course.

_It's so cruel, _Sakura thought once more.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sakura?" Kakashi was at her suite door again. Sakura sighed and turned from the window.

"Yes, Kakashi?"

Kakashi opened the door, carrying something in his hand. "Prince Sasuke has requested your presence at the royal baths."

Sakura frowned. The BATHS??

"He also requested that you wear this." Kakashi showed her a two-piece white suit. Sakura shuddered.

"He wants me to wear THAT? Never!"

"Very well," Kakashi said grimly. "He told me to tell you, if that was the case, that you'd be joining him anyway – _naked._"

"I'll take the suit," Sakura said hastily, snatching it from Kakashi. Her green eyes sparked.

_What on earth does this Prince want with me?_

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**Sorry this is kinda short, but I had a visit from the monthly evil curse of DOOM last night…so I feel like crap right now. So all my updates are gonna be really short or really BAD, because, like I said, I feel like total CRAP. That was probably TMI for you guys, eh? Oh, well…**


	8. Sakura's Debut: Hyuuga Minor vs Uchiha!

"Aah, Sakura, you're here," the Prince said lazily as the door slid closed behind the pink-haired girl. Sakura glared.

"What do you want?"

The Prince was lying back in a tub of bubbling water, his arms spread out on the rim of the pool. He patted the ledge beside him.

"Come on in. It feels wonderfully relaxing."

Sakura came closer, but didn't get in.

"What's wrong?"

"Isn't it obvious? I don't trust you," she growled. Sasuke stared up at her, the beginnings of a smile imprinted on his face.

"What do you think a prince like me could possibly want with a slave like you? I won't hurt you. Now come on."

More to feel less exposed than anything else, Sakura slid into the hot tub across from him, legs first. Sasuke was right – it did feel absolutely wonderful, but the comfort was not what Sakura wanted to talk about.

"Why did you send for me?"

Sasuke leaned back against his side of the pool, closing his eyes as if in exhaustion. "We need to talk."

"About _what_, your Highness?" Sakura growled. "What makes it so important that we need to talk face to face."

"I'm in trouble."

Sasuke opened his eyes, and Sakura nearly gasped. She'd never been close enough to notice before how dark his eyes were, and how…well, _beautiful_…

"I made a bet, you see. Our first race is against Hyuuga House Minor, is it not?"

Sakura was too dumbfounded to respond. The handsome prince sighed.

"I'll take that as a yes. Anyway, I bet Prince Neji a heavy sum that you would come in first."

"FIRST?!"

Sasuke nodded. "Yup."

Sakura grinned evilly. She was already forming plans in her head. Why win at all? Why not come in dead last? That would show this arrogant prince that she was not…

"Oh, and just to let you know – if I do lose the bet, I add the entire sum to your freedom price," Sasuke said carelessly. Sakura leapt up, showering hot water all across the room.

"WHAT?!?!" she shouted. "Are you INSANE?? I'm a ROOKIE! I'm not going to win!"

"Yes, you are." Sakura fell silent once more as the prince's coal-black eyes transfixed her. They were like smouldering flames… "Otherwise, you're mine forever."

Sakura suddenly realized that she was standing up. Sasuke was starting to grin, as if amused. And that stupid suit he'd sent her…

Sakura plopped back down with a dignified huff. But it did not wipe the smirk off the prince's face.

"I hate you," she muttered.

"Pardon? What was that?"

"Hnn."

* * *

The roars of the spectators were echoing twice as loudly off the canyon walls, but Sakura didn't have time to care. She was standing next to her charger, helmet bearing the Uchiha crest tucked under one arm. Beside her, Naruto was also in his costume. The weight of the Uchiha fan emblazoned on both their backs weighed heavily on the pair, as if they carried a price tag on their shoulders.

There was a cry as the Prince of Hyuuga House Minor emerged into his box. Neji Hyuuga's face was as calm and calculating as ever. He took in the pilots with only a glance. Sakura shivered as his pale lavender gaze passed over her – she thought she read in it her own imminent doom.

The Uchiha Prince descended to his seat amidst great cheering from the IMPERIAL ladies gathered about. Sakura noticed that Lady Ino was particularly willing to throw herself at him, along with Lady Karin. She groaned in disgust.

But Sasuke was no womanizer like his older brother. Sakura was surprised to see him ease the ladies off his arms and take his seat. She thought she saw a shiver of similar disgust pass over his own face before he nodded at Neji in the opposite box.

As one man, the pilots spun to face the Hyuuga box. Sakura's blood ran hot as she chanted the words in unison with her fellow pilots:

"Ave, IMPERIALES, morituri te salutant! Ave Genus Hyuuga Minor!"

Pivoting on her right foot, Sakura spun to face her master's box. Her mouth ran dry as she suddenly caught a glimpse of Sasuke's face. He was staring right at her, her pink hair unmistakable. And there was something different shining in his eyes, something she'd never seen before.

"Ave Genus Uchiha!"

The sun burned down on the red and white fan printed on Sakura's black jumpsuit.

The chargers started with a roar. Sakura swung herself like an expert into the cockpit, earning a glare from the monkey one pod over. The girl had brown hair pulled into two buns, a bandanna keeping her bangs out of her eyes. She handed a helmet to her pilot.

"Don't mess up, 'K, Lee?" she said in a chirrupy voice. Lee nodded.

"I will do well, Tenten-san!" Then he caught sight of Sakura.

"You are a fair blossom to be competing against, my lady!"

"Who?" Sakura asked vaguely, unsure if he was talking to her or not. Lee gave her a thumbs-up.

"I love you!"

"WHA?!?"

"Oh, shut up, Lee," Tenten said good-naturedly, slamming the visor of the helmet down on his face. "Stop scaring her." She looked over at Sakura, noting the Uchiha symbol. "But if you're Uchiha's, you're probably scared enough, hmm?"

"Better watch out, Tenten, she's got a kick like a mule," Naruto said, suddenly emerging onto the scene. He fitted a black helmet over Sakura's head and adjusted the headset that he wore.

"_Testing, testing, one, two, three, can you hear me, Sakura-chan?"_

Sakura smiled. "Your intercom works fine, Naruto!"

"_OK, now listen up," _Naruto instructed as he jumped down from the charger. Sakura felt the throttle shivering in her hand and to resist the urge to throw it. _"The guy to your right will be the toughest. Lee's the best pilot Hyuuga's got, he nearly won the Stakes last year. He'll be your toughest challenge, Hyuuga's putting all his money on Lee this year."_

Sakura gunned her engines. "Then we'll just have to win the bet, won't we?"

The light sequence sounded down. Red…yellow…

High in his box, Sasuke anxiously watched the shiny charger that his best monkey had designed. His hopes were pinned on the pink-haired stripster within. But would she survive her first race?

The light went green.

* * *

With a roar, engines kicked into gear and throttles were thrust wide. A second later, only a dust cloud stood where the chargers had been. All eyes anxiously turned to face the screens charting the pods' progress.

* * *

"_OK, Sakura-chan, you're about to hit the water stretch," _Naruto's voice directed. _"You've got Kisame on your left and Lee somewhere to your right and behind you. There's overlap, so don't move right."_

The chargers leapt neck and neck, speeding out of the canyon and down to the shores of a vast lake. A mighty river had once flowed into the lake from the canyon, but it had dried up long ago. Now it served as only one of many ITPR courses.

At the last second, Sakura threw the gears. With a groan of metal, the charger reshaped itself into the familiar jet-ski-like construction. She got the impression that Lee was in a speedboat and Kisame was riding a shark-like thing before she shot ahead, leaving sprays of water in her wake.

**I'm NOT going to lose my freedom!** Inner Sakura spat. **I WON'T lose to that idiot of a prince! I'll show him what a stripster is made out of!**

Remembering Naruto's instruction on how to round the marker tightly, Sakura leaned out of the craft and used her weight to bank the charger sharply. With a wave of water, the pod rounded the bend and shot off. Within seconds, Sakura could see the edge of the lake again. It was time for the land stretch.

"_Steady…steady…"_ Naruto was watching the monitors back at the starting line. _"OK, NOW!"_

Sakura thrust her gear back into prime position. The pod reshaped itself, hovering over the land. Or rather, shooting like a silver bullet across it.

"_Sakura, what are you doing?!"_ Naruto squawked over the intercom. _"That pod's not built to take that kind of speed! You'll be killed!"_

Sakura gritted her teeth as she forced the charger to move even faster. "These are the salt flats atop the canyon wall, am I correct?"

"_Well…"_

"Naruto, I'm a STRIPSTER," Sakura growled. "And I can't be beat!"

Farther ahead, the canyon curved around in an almost U-shaped turn. It was at the end of this U that the track dropped off into sheer space. The pilots would have to fly all the way around the long U-bend and back to the starting line, which was in the center of the turn. It looked something like this:

1-----------

1 1

X 1

1

The dotted lines were the canyon. The X was the starting point. The contestants raced down, out into the water, then came back up and down into the canyon. Sakura had only five miles to go before she reached the edge of the drop, but still she did not slow down. The charger was rattling, and she was nearly fishtailing in the back. But doggedly determined to win the bet and save her chance at freedom, Sakura would stop at nothing.

The pod fell off into empty space. Quick as a flash, Sakura switched gears again. Two silver wings shot out from either side of her pod and caught the wind. None of her competitors had gotten three-quarters of the way across the salt flat.

* * *

"Well, Uchiha, I must say you've found quite a prize," the Hyuuga prince admitted as they watched a triumphant Sakura flounce down from her charger, ignoring Naruto's angry protests. "How much would you take for her?"

"Excuse me?!"

"I'm asking to buy her," the Hyuuga retorted. "How much?"

Sasuke smirked. "All the money in your family's EXTENSIVE coffers could not buy my pilot, Hyuuga. Besides" –he pointed at Lee, who was just coming in second- "you'd have a winner there: as long as he goes up against anyone but my cherry blossom."

Neji was unfazed. "Then I'll see you at the Stakes, I guess – if your 'cherry blossom' can get past Subaku first."

Sasuke suppressed a shudder at the mention of the drag racing king. "You saw her performance today."

"Aye – but Lee is only kibbles compared to Subaku," the Hyuuga princeling pointed out. "He'll bruise your blossom. He's made of frost and ice, that Sand Prince is."

Sasuke chuckled. "Then he hasn't met the Prince of Fire."

Neji cast another glance down at the pink-haired girl who was laughing victoriously. _It may take more than Fire to overcome the Sand…_

* * *

**HA! Bet you thought I'd forgotten about this fic, didn't you? Well…it's going to go slowest of all my fics, I think. Better safe than sorry. I gave you a long update to make up for the long wait. Homework calls, so – ciao!**

**Rhulain**


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